Sudha Chavda6

Neuroses and psychoses

A division is often made between 'neuroses' and 'psychoses'. 'Neuroses' is the name given to the more common and usually less serious types of mental disorder-which can nevertheless is profoundly distressing to the sufferer. 'Psychosis' refers to those illnesses where the sufferer experiences, at times, such severe distress that he or she seems to lose touch with reality completely. They are not aware that anything is wrong, and so are unlikely to seek help from appropriate professional. The ability to distinguish between what is real and what is imaginary is seriously affected. So if you
became psychotic, you might hear people saying things when no one is speaking- 'hearing voices' - which sound quite real to you. Or you might develop strong persistent beliefs or 'delusions', which are unbelievable to others around you who know you well. Prompt actions and treatment can significantly reduce the distressing and disabling effects of psychosis. However these labels are not very accurate, as many mental illnesses can't be classified exactly so experts concentrate instead on the symptoms of each individual disturbance. Such symptoms may include anxiety, depression, intense fear or phobia, obsessional behaviour, thought disturbances, paranoia, delusions, hallucinations and mania. Some of these may be caused by organic factors such as deterioration in brain cells or a biochemical imbalance. Sometimes alcohol or drug abuse can bring on mental disturbances.

Sorry! Folks, you must be bored stiff reading all this but it is educational, don't you agree? Now I would like to throw some light into my work. At present, I am based at a Mental Health Resource Centre. We have a multi-disciplinary team of experienced mental health professionals; - Psychiatrist, Community psychiatric nurses, Alcohol specialist, Psychologists, Occupational therapist, Psychotherapist, Counsellors and Social workers. The majority of the staff are from the ethnic background and have originated from Philippines, Malaysia, Mauritius, India, Africa, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Somalia and are able to converse in variety of languages including Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu, Gujarati, Tamil, Malay and Swahili. It seems we have a world of experience within our team. So, you might wonder what we do? We undertake mental health assessment and the assessment of social and health needs. We also plan and co-ordinate, packages of care for individual clients. We offer counselling, group work and family work. We also do home visits and offer our support and administer injections and monitor mental states. Various group activities take place at the Centre; - social skills, music therapy, art therapy, drama therapy, behaviour therapy, women's group, luncheon club, creative therapy, stress and anxiety management group, yoga class, relaxation class and pottery group as a part of the clients treatment. We also provide social security benefit and housing advice for our clients.

MY PROFESSION - COMMUNITY PSYCHIATRIC NURSE	Sudha Chavda. Hillingdon
Neuroses and psychoses A division is often made between 'neuroses' and 'psychoses'. 'Neuroses' is the name given to the more common and usually less serious types of mental disorder-which can nevertheless is profoundly distressing to the sufferer. 'Psychosis' refers to those illnesses where the sufferer experiences, at times, such severe distress that he or she seems to lose touch with reality completely. They are not aware that anything is wrong, and so are unlikely to seek help from appropriate professional. The ability to distinguish between what is real and what is imaginary is seriously affected. So if you became psychotic, you might hear people saying things when no one is speaking- 'hearing voices' - which sound quite real to you. Or you might develop strong persistent beliefs or 'delusions', which are unbelievable to others around you who know you well. Prompt actions and treatment can significantly reduce the distressing and disabling effects of psychosis. However these labels are not very accurate, as many mental illnesses can't be classified exactly so experts concentrate instead on the symptoms of each individual disturbance. Such symptoms may include anxiety, depression, intense fear or phobia, obsessional behaviour, thought disturbances, paranoia, delusions, hallucinations and mania. Some of these may be caused by organic factors such as deterioration in brain cells or a biochemical imbalance. Sometimes alcohol or drug abuse can bring on mental disturbances. Sorry! Folks, you must be bored stiff reading all this but it is educational, don't you agree? Now I would like to throw some light into my work. At present, I am based at a Mental Health Resource Centre. We have a multi-disciplinary team of experienced mental health professionals; - Psychiatrist, Community psychiatric nurses, Alcohol specialist, Psychologists, Occupational therapist, Psychotherapist, Counsellors and Social workers. The majority of the staff are from the ethnic background and have originated from Philippines, Malaysia, Mauritius, India, Africa, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Somalia and are able to converse in variety of languages including Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu, Gujarati, Tamil, Malay and Swahili. It seems we have a world of experience within our team. So, you might wonder what we do? We undertake mental health assessment and the assessment of social and health needs. We also plan and co-ordinate, packages of care for individual clients. We offer counselling, group work and family work. We also do home visits and offer our support and administer injections and monitor mental states. Various group activities take place at the Centre; - social skills, music therapy, art therapy, drama therapy, behaviour therapy, women's group, luncheon club, creative therapy, stress and anxiety management group, yoga class, relaxation class and pottery group as a part of the clients treatment. We also provide social security benefit and housing advice for our clients.

Mental Illness Stigma Cause of mental illness Neuroses and psychoses Referrals Part1 Part3 Part4 Part5 Part6 Home Professions